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This Englishman is a snake lover. As part of his mission, he will train children to manage snakebites
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Ian Simpson: `It is horrific that people die more out of ignorance than of snake venom.' — Photo: Murali Kumar K.
THE BIG, burly Englishman in a khadi kurta has a list of favourites — Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-tikki-tavi, snakes, children, and talking about all of the above. Herpetologist Ian Simpson is in Bangalore, now working on a WHO project to spread the message that people don't need to die of snakebites. "The tsunami killed (thousands of) Indians. But did you know that 50,000 die of snakebite each year in India? And the pity is that while a tsunami cannot be avoided, simple steps can definitely prevent deaths due to snakebites."
Ian's lifelong passion for reptiles started when as a seven-year old he heard the story of the brave and impish mongoose Rikki-tikki-tavi in The Jungle Book from his grandmother. "It was only 40 years later that I actually saw a mongoose, a whole family of them, and a cobra together in the forest close to Goa," recalls Ian, a retired economist.
For a snake lover, Ian was born in the most inappropriate country. England has just three types of snakes. "But I continued to read as much as possible about snakes and my job took me to different parts of the world, many of them with huge numbers of snakes," says Ian, presently working on a book on the clinical management of snakebites in India.
"It is horrific that people die more out of ignorance than of snake venom," points out Ian. "Fifty per cent of snakes in India are not poisonous, 50 per cent of the snake bites are `dry bites', meaning the venom is not injected into the body, and with proper observation, diagnosis and treatment, deaths due to snakebites are preventable."
In his interaction with doctors, medical staff, teachers and pharmacists, Ian has found that often anti-venin is administered even when there is no need for it. "I once found a poor family crying over a lady undergoing anti-venin treatment in an ICU of a big hospital in the city. The son had put the offensive snake in a bottle. I saw it and realised immediately that it was a harmless little snake. It took some time to get the doctors to stop the treatment... not many people seem to be aware that anti-venin treatment given to victims who have not been bitten by a venomous snake is extremely dangerous to the patient. Anti-venin is effective only when the bite is systemic — when the venom has entered the system."
So what should one do? "Make the victim stop moving. Immobilise the bitten area. Make sure that there is lot of air circulation — people with cobra bites die of respiratory malfunction, not venom. Organise to get the victim to hospital as soon as possible. Doctors must observe the patient for at least half an hour to ascertain the type of bite and snake. Check for swelling, and how fast it is developing. And then take anti-venin treatment if necessary," lists out the herpetologist.
Ian Simpson, along with his mentor David Warrell, the world-renowned snakebite expert from Oxford University, has been working tirelessly to spread awareness about snakebites. Ian has spoken to doctors and school students in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and has appointments to reach other States soon. "I am always eager to address children, since I consider them my local champions. I tell them to do four things: reassure the victim, immobilise the affected part with a sling and so on, watch the patient, and get him to a hospital."
Tourniquets are not always a good idea, and sucking out blood from the affected region is even worse, says Ian, who is now working on producing a CD, which he wants to make available to every school in the country. "Things are not always easy in India. India always has a little wrinkle. There are too many priorities, the quality of anti-venin is inconsistent, and the cost is not always affordable for all. But we believe it is possible to have the same possibility of surviving snakebite in the middle of Bangalore as in rural Punjab or Karnataka," says the herpetologist.
Serendipity brought Ian Simpson to India. "I asked my travel agent to book a holiday in a dry, hot place as a birthday present for my wife. He suggested Goa. Since then, we've been here nine times. And this time I'm staying till we have a WHO India plan for India to manage snakebite!"
Ingrid, an avid birdwatcher and organic farmer, made the most of her husband's work in the Western Ghats recently, to study and document the biodiversity of the region. Ian Simpson is presently accompanying Dr. David Warrell on a tour to Hyderabad, Manipal, Mangalore, Bangalore and Chennai. He looks forward to hearing from schools, doctors and others so that his mission can be carried forward.
You can email this educational presenter, snakebite expert, organophosphate poisoning activist and WHO researcher him at iansimpson@gmail.com.
MALA KUMAR
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